And as I was walking back down the steps, I was thinking of how famous The Buddha is; millions, if not billions, of people worship The Buddha around the world. And if you mention his name anywhere, people recognize something about him. And I was thinking, how is he famous? He was just sitting there.

And I was thinking of how people flying on jets and going here and there are trying to find some recognition, fame, something nice to consume. And their lives may not be nearly as consequential as The Buddha's. And all he did was sit there, really. At least, that's the pose in the deity, that mūrti form; he's famous for being contemplative and just sitting. I was thinking that it's important to take time, at least every day, to sit and contemplate. Who am I? What is consciousness? What is animating the body, as Kṛṣṇa talks about in the Bhagavad Gītā? And what is my connection with the world and the source of the world?

Those are important topics, and nowadays, people give these topics a sense of superficiality. They say, oh, that's just faith or something insubstantial or wispy. The real thing is science—build airplanes and bombs and so forth for progress in the world. But we come from a different culture, where real progress comes from nigama. In fact, the Bhāgavatam is called nigama, 'nigama kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalam'—looking inwardly. So japa is a very deliberate way of taking time to examine yourself. And what's more, and most importantly, what's our relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

(excerpt from the talk)

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